Sports: CCHS

Cañon City Tigers fall 9-3 in season opener against Pueblo County

Cañon City Tigers shortstop Zac Hanenberg fields a ground ball as the Tigers took on Pueblo County on Tuesday afternoon at Justin Field. (Lisa Rix / Daily Record)

Cañon City Tigers Seth Six came on in relief as the Tigers opened the season against the Pueblo County Hornets at home. (Lisa Rix / Daily Record)

The mistakes started early for the Canon City Tigers and would snowball into a 9-3 loss against the Pueblo County Hornets on Tuesday at Justin Field.

"I think we were a little nervous and a little tight," said Tigers head baseball coach Tim Ritter. "(We) had a lot of guys that this was their first varsity game and it showed."

The Tigers mistakes started in the first inning, which was a sign for more to come. No runs were scored in the first inning but a bad throw from the shortstop to first base on the game's first batter put a man on base for the Hornets. The next batter would bunt and while the ball was fielded cleanly, there was nobody covering first base.

A strikeout and a double play saved the Tigers from any runs in the first inning.

It would take until the third inning for the first runs to be scored as the Tigers got good pitching from Zac Hanenberg, but that turned bad quickly. The first batter grounded out to second, but the next five batters rattled off singles.

This gave the Hornets a 4-0 lead with only one out and a runner on first. The next batter hit a ground ball to shortstop Lincoln Andrews who would get the out at second and the third out would come from the next hitter as he hit a line drive that was caught in the outfield.

The Tigers got their first runs of the game in the bottom of the third. Kaleb Crossman started the inning with a walk and Jacob Whitney would then pinch run for Crossman.

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The next two Tigers' batters would go down with a strikeout and the other hitting a fly ball to center field. During the next at-bat, a past ball moved Whitney to second. Later in that at-bat, the Tigers hit a single through the gap between the second baseman and the shortstop, which allowed Whitney to score.

Kadin Porter also hit a single to put a man on first and third. Porter stole second, but a few pitches later, a fly ball to right field ended the inning.

The Hornets started the fourth inning strong with a single through the gap between first and second base. From there, a single bounced off second baseman Andrew Brosh and rolled into right field putting a man on first and third.

The next Hornet bunted. The runner on third scored and the runner on first moved to second, but the batter was out at first. A ground out to Brosh gave the Hornets their second out but a passed ball during the next Hornet batter scored the runner on third, which put the Hornets up 6-1.

The Tigers cut the Hornets lead in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Tristan Beicker hit a single to right field. A line drive by Seth Six straight to the center fielder gave the Tigers the second out of the inning.

Peyton Gifford walked, putting a Tiger on first and second with Hanenberg coming up to the plate. While Hanenberg was at the plate, a ball would go past the catcher. Gifford tried to steal second a little late. This gave time for the catcher to throw the ball down to second and put Gifford in a pickle.

Gifford was able to run back and forth long enough for the Hornets to miss a throw, which allowed Gifford to advance to second. Beicker was able to score, adding the Tigers second run to the board.

Hanenberg walked and Brosh hit a single into center field, which allowed Gifford to score and put Hanenberg on third. The next batter hit a ground ball that would get Brosh out at second, which put the score at 6-3.

The Hornets added to their lead in the top of the seventh inning by adding three more runs.

The Tigers added six hits in the game.

"I like the way [the top of the order] are swinging it," said Ritter. "Our bottom half of our order, they're really struggling at the plate."

The Tigers next game will be at 4 p.m. Thursday against Pueblo Centennial at Hobbs field.

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